This disclosure generally relates to passenger seats for vehicles. In particular, this disclosure relates to passenger seats for aircraft.
During hot day ground conditions at the gate, an airplane's air conditioning system is typically not powered, resulting in high temperatures in the passenger cabin. When the passengers or crew sit, the seat increases their clothing resistance, making them even warmer. This results in hot, sweaty, uncomfortable seated passengers and crew while the airplane is on the ground.
The current solution for hot conditions in a conventional aircraft passenger seat is to provide passenger and crew with personal air outlets (commonly called “gaspers”). Gaspers increase heat transfer and evaporation from (i.e., cool) the exposed surfaces of a seated person's body, but they cannot provide a cooling effect to surfaces blocked by seat cushions and fabric. It may also be the case that some passengers departing from an airport on a hot day find that the airflow from the gaspers is insufficient to eliminate discomfort while the aircraft remains at the gate.
A new generation of lightweight passenger seats use a mesh fabric material or webbing instead of solid cushions. If the pores in the mesh material are left open, this ventilates the seated person's back and thighs, resulting in a cooler sensation during hot-day ground conditions. But a seat made in this manner would over-ventilate the seated person at cruise altitude, resulting in cold, chilly, uncomfortable seated passengers and crew. The current solution for cold conditions in a mesh seat is to cover the seat face with leather, which unfortunately also eliminates the advantage the mesh seat has for hot day conditions.
It would be desirable to modify existing passenger seats so that the temperature-reducing effect of gaspers could be supplemented when a vehicle is on the ground during hot-day conditions.